- Published as “Why amalgamate only two Greater Victoria municipalities?”
It makes absolutely no sense to discuss the amalgamation of the two largest municipalities into one super-sized municipality while leaving the rest of the capital region untouched.
Dr. Trevor Hancock
17 July 2026
708 words
I am troubled by the growing expression of support in these pages for the amalgamation of Saanich and Victoria. My concern is rooted in a couple of very simple points: This is the wrong amalgamation, and anyway, what is the problem being addressed, and how will amalgamation improve our lives?
We are a single Region of some 460,000 people, but with 13 municipalities, some of which are quite small. The report of the Citizens’ Assembly noted the two municipalities “function as a shared civic space, and its governance should reflect that.” Time and again throughout the report, much the same idea is presented – that impacts extend beyond single municipal boundaries. And time and again, they concluded a coordinated response through a unified municipality would be more effective.
But a combined Saanich/Victoria would still be bordering Oak Bay, Esquimalt, View Royal, Highlands and Central Saanich; aren’t they a shared civic space whose governance should reflect that? Moreover, while concluding “fragmented governance hinders effectiveness and accountability” and recommending amalgamation, they fail to recognise that this is equally true of the Greater Victoria Region (GVR) as a whole.
Nor do they explain why reducing the number of municipalities by one, leaving a fragmented region of 12 municipalities, one of them being half the population, is a solution. To me, it makes absolutely no sense to discuss the amalgamation of the two largest municipalities into one super-sized municipality while leaving the rest of the GVR untouched. Any rational discussion of amalgamation must look at the Region as a whole, and not just two municipalities.
The correct question here should be ‘what is the best way to govern this Region in the 21st century?’ The answer to that question needs to take into account the challenges of the 21st century, which include our ecologically unsustainable way of life, the extensive social injustices across the region, the challenges to democracy arising from social media and AI, and the rights of First Nations in this region, among other major concerns. I suggest the Assembly’s response should have been – ‘It would make more sense to amalgamate the GVR for that purpose, not just amalgamate the two largest municipalities’
Now I am not arguing here for a single regional municipality, although I would argue for amalgamation into several local municipalities, and that some functions should operate at the Regional level. But in my February 1st column “How would we reinvent local government from scratch?” I suggested we apply the principle of subsidiarity – an assumption that all decisions are local (how local, we might ask – street, block, neighbourhood?) and then ask which decisions does it not make sense to make at that level, but at higher levels?
More importantly, what is the purpose of amalgamation? How will my life as a citizen of Saanich be improved? In my February 1st column I also suggested we should start by imagining the entire system of local government disappeared overnight and we had to re-invent it from scratch; what would we want to create if we wanted a more sustainable, just and healthy community?
Well, it’s not at all clear in the arguments for amalgamation; there is no reference in the Citizens’ Assembly report to a vision of what we are trying to achieve, while the word ‘wellbeing’ appears only once, in a minority member report, and only about financial wellbeing.
In my 31st August 2025 column (“Let’s have a conversation about the future we want for this region”), I suggested the people, organisations and institutions of the Greater Victoria Region (GVR) must come together both to understand the challenges we face and engage in an act of collective imagination leading to a better future. Such a comprehensive governance review should be done under the auspices of the provincial government, not just by a group from just two municipalities.
As a citizen of Saanich, I will be voting against this ill-thought-out proposal to amalgamate these two municipalities, and I hope you will join me in voting it down. I also hope you will join me in calling on the province to conduct a comprehensive governance review of the Greater Victoria Region, one more suited to our regional nature and to the multiple challenges of the 21st century.
© Trevor Hancock, 2026
Dr. Trevor Hancock is a retired professor and senior scholar at the
University of Victoria’s School of Public Health and Social Policy
Dr. Trevor Hancock - Healthy people, healthy communities, a healthy planet 